Colorado State Dispatches Virginia in Opener, 35-29

Cecil Sapp supplied the offense with 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Colorado State’s defense made the game-saving play as the Rams defeated Virginia, 35-29, in the Jim Thorpe Classic Thursday night at Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers had a chance to win in the final seconds, but quarterback Marques Hagans fumbled on the Rams’ one-yard line with 10 seconds to play.

Sapp carried 25 times, 14 in the second half, in the earliest season opener in Division I history.

“I was worried about him wearing down, but he was as strong in the second half as he was in the first,” Ram Coach Sonny Lubick said. “I didn’t think I was going to go the whole game with one tailback.”

Jeff Babcock kicked five field goals, including a 46-yarder that put the Rams ahead for good with 4:07 to play.

Three plays after the field goal, Colorado State’s Dexter Wynn intercepted an errant pass and returned it to the Virginia five. Babcock kicked his fifth field goal to make it 35-29 with 2:20 to play.

Hagans then drove the Cavaliers 81 yards in two minutes before fumbling.

Colorado State plays UCLA in the Bruins’ opener on Sept. 7

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Penn State safety Yaacov Yisrael, who started every game last year, will sit out the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee.... Maryland tailback Bruce Perry, who ran for 1,242 yards last year, will be out the first four-to-eight weeks of the season because of a groin injury suffered before a scrimmage.

A mysterious illness has sent four Fort Hays State (Kan.) players to the hospital and sickened 21 other players and two coaches. The four players, being treated for an unusual form of pneumonia, were in fair condition.... Florida State offensive guard Milford Brown, who started 12 games for the Seminoles last season, had his college career end when the NCAA ruled that he has used up his eligibility. Brown was a full-time student at Alabama State in the fall of 1997, meaning his five-year eligibility window for competition had closed.... Tennessee lost Constantin Ritzmann for the season after the defensive tackle tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Florida’s Todd Johnson returned to practice as a spectator, a day after the All-Southeastern Conference safety was knocked unconscious during a workout. He is expected to return to practice next week.... Sixth-year senior Daniel Cobb was named the starting quarterback by Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville. He beat out sophomore Jason Campbell. The Tigers open Sept. 2 at USC.